After all the trouble myself – and a lot of other sewists – went to to get the ‘La Maison Victor: Men’s Special’ edition, it’s great to see there is now a UK version not only available – but available in my local newsagent!

Even though I could only get the Menswear Special in French, I’m glad to have it. Look at all these patterns!

… excuse the coffee stain…!

Each regular issue has a selection of patterns for women and children and so far only one men’s pattern each.

I haven’t worn pleated trousers since the 80’s but I do like the look of the Greg chinos. Maybe a summer pair out of linen… I’ve got some great summer shoes that I need better trousers to wear with. The Omer jacket looks incredible, I love the biker-jacket vibes – it has so many pieces though! I’ll have to work my way up to that. I’ve made the Jeff pants already; hopefully they’ll come into their own when the summer hits London.

I was thinking of the summer while I was fabric shopping at the Knitting & Stitching Show recently and bought some jersey from GirlCharlee to make tshirts.

I’d already decided on the La Maison Victor Issac TShirt, so rifled through my stash for complimentary/ contrasting fabrics… and… turned up empty handed! The anchor fabric is really light and slinky (I just know it’s going to cling to my stomach and make me look like I have man-boobs but I really liked the pattern and it felt so nice I had to buy it) and none of my scraps have the same feel, so I re-traced the front and the back as one piece each (removing the yokes). I added 1.5cm seams and 3cm hems as they’re not included in the pattern.

I didn’t take a lot of pictures as I made the first one. There didn’t seem much point as I’d simplified the pattern. The fabric was slippery to handle but I managed without using the walking foot. What I did do was use spray starch on the pocket and the hems and that really helped to stop things from shifting around.

It’s even a bit clingy on Manny!

As I anticipated, a bit clingy but it feels great. I think it’s a bit long though. When I cut out the next one I cut 3cm off (taking it back to the drafted length – with no seam technically included although I still folded 3cm).

For my next iteration I wanted to use up the jersey leftovers that I didn’t think paired with the first one. I found lots of pieces but none of them big enough to cut an entire front or back out of… even with the yoke. So I added another design line; 10cm or so below the armpit diagonally down to about 10cm or so from the centre front hem. Making the front and back panels shorter meant that I could fit them out of my fabric.

  • Sleeves & neckband: Grey
  • Yokes: White
  • Front: Navy/White stripe
  • Back: White
  • Bottom: Red

I wasn’t really sure what I’d let myself in for with the triangle point. It needed a bit more precision than I was willing to give it at the time, but I think I pulled it off.

Out of the three I’ve made so far this one has had the most wear (mainly because it is the least summer-specific of the bunch, but I’m obviously not put off by that pucker!).

Finally, I thought I’d better make one like the pattern suggested. It was what drew me to the pattern in the first place! For this I used my most summery selection from Girlcharlee: the palm trees. I had some grey and red scraps left but decided on simple white yokes to contrast the patterned fabric.

If you want to know how I made the tshirt (… it’s only a bit different from the instructions) keep reading, or skip to the money-shot if you prefer…! ⬇️⬇️⬇️

  • Needle: Jersey 70
  • Thread: All purpose polyester
  • Stitch: Zigzag 1.5 x 1.5
  • Seams: Three thread overlock
  • Tricks: Spray starch

I had to stitch up the body pieces to the yokes first. Sewn and overlocked, I pressed the seams downwards so my #rainbowseams wouldn’t show through the white fabric.

I starched the pocket and matched the stripes but not the trees…

After sewing the shoulder seams I basted the neck band in; zig zagged then overlocked. Next I switched to the twin needle and topstitched my favourite neckline to date…!

… just the faintest hint of #rainbowseams showing through!

While I had the twin needle out I hemmed the sleeves before putting them in. Risky business, I know, but I had the stripes to follow, keeping things level.

The sleeves got sewn in with the same zigzag as the neckline and finished on the overlocker. No stripes to match here thanks to the plain yoke… but the side seams were another story! I carefully lined up the stripes and put a pin in each and every one of them.

And it worked!

The shorter hem is a much better length on me and I love the contrast of the yoke against the neck/ sleeves/ body.

Now I’ve got the tshirts I just need the summer!

Happy Sewing.

Notes to self;

  • Keep an eye out for scraps that will go together for more Issacs.
  • More tshirt designs!
  • I should start thinking about piecing one of my long sleeve patterns. Or lengthening the sleeves of this.